Mods: LaserGuy & Peaceful WhaleSpeed: 7 day Days, Nightless. Extensions around Christmas and other busy times if necessary.Bastardry: Moderate. Closed setup with high likelihood of some crazy roles. We'll do our best to balance, but no guarantees.

Standard Rules:

Spoiler:

1. Do not talk about the game outside of this thread, apart from a properly labeled spoiler in the discussion thread. 2. Please stay on topic at all times.3. Lurking is frowned upon; if you need to drop out, please let me know as soon as possible. If someone feels that another player isn't contributing to game play, please make me aware. Modkills will be handed out if replacement cannot be found without regard to balance.4. If you aren't part of this game, please do not post in the thread.5. Once it is nighttime, do not post in the thread.6. You may not quote the contents of any PM related to this game, but you can paraphrase. 7. If you have been killed in game, don't say anything for the rest of the game except a simple, "Bah, you got me," which reveals no information. Or something along those lines, without giving out any information or hints to anyone still playing.8. You may not edit your posts unless explicitly told to do so by the mod (which is not in any way expected to happen).9. You cannot ruin the game for other players.10. You must play to achieve your win condition.11. Please make an effort to include the mods on all PMs. Mistakes happen but make me aware if they do.12. All votes must be bolded and on a separate line. Unvotes are preferred but not required. If I miss something, let us know.

Game Specific Rules (IMPORTANT: Please Read):

1. In general, days will last for 7 days. Nights will last for as long as it takes us to process night actions. Adjustments will be made to accommodate holidays, or for other reasons if the mods deem it necessary.

2. You may post in thread during the day phase but not the night phase. It is night as soon as the mod posts a day-end post, or a hammer vote is cast, in which case it is automatically night, whether or not a mod has made a day-end post. Note that this means you may not post content after a hammer vote.

3. Do not lurk! One post per real-life day is the recommended minimum. Consideration will be given for weekends and holidays. If you are going to be away for an extended period, please let us know. Otherwise, you will be prodded after 48 hours of inactivity. Failure to respond to a prod within 48 hours will result in a replacement or modkill.

4. You may not use encryption systems in order to communicate privately or circumvent these rules.

5. In the event of a tied vote, the result will be No Lynch. Players may choose to vote No Lynch instead of casting a normal vote. If there is a tied vote between a player and No Lynch, then it is a No Lynch.

6. Any night actions must be sent by PM before the end of the day. Please send your night action via PM. It is your responsibility to ensure that your night action is submitted on-time. If a hammer vote is placed, there will be a short grace period to submit night actions, but generally actions must be received before end of day.

7. You can send backup actions but don't make the conditions too complicated. You can change your night action at any time up until the end of day.

8. This setup is closed and moderately bastard. We will not lie to you or provide misleading information, but may choose not to answer questions. Generally, we will not answer questions about how a particular role will interact with another claimed or hypothetical role. Some roles may have hidden elements or have somewhat bastard mechanics subject to the restrictions indicated at the bottom of this section.

9. Please abide by any posting restrictions or other restrictions on your abilities. Failure to do so will result in a mod penalty up to and including a modkill.

10. You may not, under any circumstances, claim the name, flavor or abilities of the role that you submitted. Please do not attempt to circumvent this rule (e.g. mass claiming "I did not submit a cop" is not acceptable). Violators will suffer severe penalties. Claiming your received role is fine as long as you do not directly quote from the PM.

11. The flavor and abilities of submitted roles may have been altered at the mods' discretion. Players will not be informed if their role has been changed from its original conception.

12. Roles have been randomly assigned to alignments. Due to the nature of the roles submitted, we make no guarantees of balance.

13. All private communications between players are Daychat.

14. We will announce MMYLO (maybe MYLO) and LLYLO (likely LYLO). These conditions will be announced solely based on the number of players remaining in the game and will not take into account any powers or potential interactions between them.

15. [Duplicate removed]

Sample Town role PM:

Spoiler:

You are Vanilla Elf

For many years you have been a dedicated worker at Santa's workshop, but you have come to realise that you can no longer tolerate the oppression that your people face.

Abilities:You have no abilities but your vote.

You are a member of the union (Town) and win when all threats to Town are eliminated.

Sample Scum role PM:

Spoiler:

You are Elf Goon

You are a dedicated worker at Santa's workshop and cannot understand why anyone would oppose your glorious leader. The unionists have gone too far and it is time to end this rebellion once and for all.

You’re tired of these so called “unionists”, and you’ve put your foot down. It’s time that you and [scum buddy] did something about this mess. You’re going to stop this revellion even if you’ve got to kill every single elf in this department. You and [scum buddy] have secret phones, hidden to look like candy canes, use your chat wisely to coordinate. But don’t forget, you’ve got a stash of exploding presents, ready to go boom. (PM Peaceful Whale or LaserGuy in this format. [Name of killer] night kills [name of nightkill])

You are a member of Loyalists (Scum) and win when all threats to your side are eliminated or this outcome is inevitable.

Submitted Role Mechanics:

Spoiler:

1. Roles should be playable by any faction2. Players removed from the game may not be brought back to life3. No spoiler-reading roles.4. No flavor-writing/influencing roles.5. No alignment-changing roles.6. Flips will reveal all role details including hidden mechanics7. We will do our best to keep the roles that players submit intact, but we reserve the right to alter the roles as necessary to make the game fun for everyone

Please confirm receipt of your role PM. D1 will begin when a majority of players have confirmed.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 6:32 am UTC

by Madge

Got my PM! I'm so excited!

Just in case anyone else misunderstood this rule on first reading:

LaserGuy wrote:10. You may not, under any circumstances, claim the name, flavor or abilities of the role that you submitted. Please do not attempt to circumvent this rule (e.g. mass claiming "I did not submit a cop" is not acceptable). Violators will suffer severe penalties. Claiming your received role is fine as long as you do not directly quote from the PM.

We can't claim the role we submitted at all (so no "I believe LaserGuy's claim because I submitted that role", or "I submitted that role but it had a night kill as well - LIAR"), but we can claim the role we received freely (subject to usual rules about direct quoting from role PMs).

(mods feel free to correct me but I think I got it right)

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 6:35 am UTC

by LaserGuy

Madge wrote:

LaserGuy wrote:10. You may not, under any circumstances, claim the name, flavor or abilities of the role that you submitted. Please do not attempt to circumvent this rule (e.g. mass claiming "I did not submit a cop" is not acceptable). Violators will suffer severe penalties. Claiming your received role is fine as long as you do not directly quote from the PM.

We can't claim the role we submitted at all (so no "I believe LaserGuy's claim because I submitted that role", or "I submitted that role but it had a night kill as well - LIAR"), but we can claim the role we received freely (subject to usual rules about direct quoting from role PMs).

(mods feel free to correct me but I think I got it right)

Yes, that is correct.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 7:44 am UTC

by Sabrar

Confirm.

Any particular reason for rules 5 and 15 being the same?

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 7:47 am UTC

by LaserGuy

Copy error on my part. Fixed.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 7:50 am UTC

by bessie

Confirm.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 8:15 am UTC

by plytho

Confirm

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:23 am UTC

by jimbobmacdoodle

Confirm

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:33 am UTC

by somitomi

Confirm.Last week of the semester is upon me, so I might be even more lurkier than usual on D1. Apologies in advance.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:35 pm UTC

by Liri

Confirm.

This weekend is busy (playing The Nutcracker six times, appropriately) but then it's biscuits.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:51 pm UTC

by Sabrar

Is 7/10 enough majority for D1 to start?

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:52 pm UTC

by moody7277

Confirmed.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:01 pm UTC

by Peaceful Whale

Okay I think that’s enough people. ...

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:02 pm UTC

by Peaceful Whale

Note: LaserGuy will come later and give us the exact date and time that night starts and D2 starts. I don’t trust myself to do that.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:03 pm UTC

by Peaceful Whale

O say can you see, by the great northern lights,What so proudly we built just in time for next ChristmasAll those dolls, trains and games for the world's good childrenWrapped in white red and green, many boxes need filling.And the sleigh's red glare, Santa flying in airGave gifts through the night and joy everywhereO say to those children Merry Christmasmay your hearts fill with cheer; have a Happy New Year.

James figured with his tie, a toddlers clip-on but it sat from his chin to his belt loop. A benefit of being 3’ 6” was the affordable suits. However, being waist high compared to the average human was definitely not one of them. Actually, it might be he thought as serving girl walked past in a particularly tight dress. Shaking his head he waddled over to the bar. It sat a good foot above his head. Well no matter, he wasn’t here for a drink. He rapped lightly on a discolored maple panel. Creaking could be heard, and shortly thereafter the door swung open in silent hinges. He was greeted by ferocious sight. A chubby little women, a good inch shorty than James was. A bright purple party hat clashed with the black suit this gal wore. None of that was any cause for alarm, elves were known for their horrible sense of fashion, of course they didn’t know that. What really soured James’s egg-nog was the position this women had, the dreaded shift manager. James pushed pass the women, and didn’t meet her eyes, she knew who he was, the black trench coat should have given it away. His style was well known. And so was his profession. Her tentative steps could be heard behind him as he sulked down the steps. Not a single one creaked and each looked to be newly polished. A little unknown fact; most elves have OCD. Making them excellent workers, their minds were their own quality check. Casually he straightened a bust of the big guy with his finger, but his anger at seeing a tyrant being portrayed as anything else, especially “jolly” sent anger scraping down his back. In his near-rage, he flicked it a little bit too hard, and it fell to the floor, clattering down the steps till it reached the floor. The shift manager behind him gasped. James smirked behind his collar, let her see the sight of her god be tarnished, he was about to do worse.

Reaching the last step he strode confidently into the the room. The people inside stopped and stared at him, they had previously been looking at the big man’s bust, a corner had cracked, causing them to gasp and stare at it before he entered. Now they were looking at him, a unionist, standing in front of them, deep inside the “free ice”. He’d had walked into their annual Christmas party, just as he planned. He used to be one of them, until he had expressed un-Christmas views, and had been shipped out of the continent, sent to a rehabilitation camp. Now however after breaking out of it, he was hear to free his people from the oppressive dictatorship they suffered from. He stepped onto the frame in front of him, destroying Santa’s face, shattering it behind repair. “My brothers and sisters, I’m hear to see you from the oppression that you’ve suffered far too long from.”

All the elves stared at James, what was he doing here? He had obviously not finished his rehabilitation, not with him standing here spewing forth blasphemy! Silence covered the room like a delicate blanket of snow, making one worried to take step or a large breath, lest the shatter it. The dreaded moment came, when someone grabbed a gift from under the tree, and threw it towards James. “Take a present won’t you?” The following explosion rocked the floor and ceiling, James’s remains were completely gone, save it were his shoes, covered in a thin film of dust. Screams sounded, but none were louder than the poor shift manager’s, everyone knew she had a crush on James, except of corse James himself, who simply saw her as a shift manager. People rushed about, trying to find out what had happened, a waist elf suggested that no one should touch the present, for they were obviously trapped, look what happened to poor old James! After the hysteria had ended, people began to look suspicious at each other, they knew that this day had been coming for a long time. Their were many union members in the crowd, and their opponents loyalists. The loyalists would keep theses people under control and working like oxen if they could have their way, while the unionist would free the poor townspeople of these tyrants. This was going to be one very, very merry Christmas.

Day one has begun! Players may now post freely as long as it obeys the rules! Night actions must be submitted before deadline! Have a very merry Christmas elves!

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:06 pm UTC

by Sabrar

Vote: wam

for signing up before me but not confirming. Clearly scum-lurker.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:09 pm UTC

by moody7277

Peaceful Whale wrote:Note: LaserGuy will come later and give us the exact date and time that night starts and D2 starts. I don’t trust myself to do that.

If I remember the setup correctly, the difference in those is the length of time it takes the mod to process actions this being a "nightless" game.

Re: Secret Santa Pregame - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:20 pm UTC

by bessie

I’m super busy with work this week we’re having an audit (and from the looks of things I’ll be super busy next week responding to nonconformances ) so I will be doing most of my posting on nights and weekends.

Sabrar wrote:Is 7/10 enough majority for D1 to start?

You only sat out one game and already… ...

Re: Secret Santa Day 1 - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:26 pm UTC

by Sabrar

That was one game too many.

Re: Secret Santa Day 1 - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:45 pm UTC

by jimbobmacdoodle

I've got a few minutes so time for some random setup speculation. 10 man game probably means two scum plus one anti-town indie (3 scum would mean only one mislynch before MYLO). 8 town meanwhile feels a little too town-favouring, unless scum has significantly more powerful abilities than town.

As for the sort of roles to expect, I doubt there'll be many true standard roles, but plenty that are minor variants or hybrids of normal roles. I'll be very surprised if there isn't at least one truly crazy role out there. From memory, redirectors were a common theme in recent Secret Santas, so I wouldn't be surprised to see at least one of them. Conditional abilities also wouldn't surprise me (I.e. usable only under certain circumstances).

By the way, if anybody has a day vig, they definitely should use it on Sabrar now. He's way too excited for this game.

Re: Secret Santa Day 1 - Carol of the Elves

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:50 pm UTC

by Sabrar

jimbobmacdoodle wrote:By the way, if anybody has a day vig, they definitely should use it on Sabrar now.